It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

The ReHomelandization Of Congress

It appeared, for a couple of weeks after the election of 2008, that the code orange haze hovering over the American landscape might dissipate. Guantanamo prisons could finally close, it seemed, and we might have a President who would respect the rule of law. Then, however, Democrats in Congress joined Republicans in opposing the closure of the Guantanamo prisons, and Barack Obama followed the example of George W. Bush in declaring that the President is above the law, and doesn’t need to pay attention to people’s constitutional rights if he doesn’t want to.

Now, after a single pathetically failed attempt by an incompetent teenager to engage in just one terrorist attack, the shadow of Homeland Security is thickening.

12 cosponsors have signed onto H.R.4463 – To require that all foreign terrorists with links to terrorist networks who attack the United States or its Government be considered enemy combatants to be tried by military tribunals instead of civilian courts. The bill was introduced on Tuesday by Representative Vern Buchanan. It seeks to establish two separate and unequal systems of law within the USA: One in which people accused of certain crimes are deprived of the right to a fair trial in order to ensure their conviction. If Buchanan’s bill passed, the use of the substandard system of justice would not just be an option for government prosecutors. It would be required.

Not one single cosponsor has signed onto H.R.4470 – To ensure that individuals detained by the Department of Homeland Security are treated humanely, provided adequate medical care, and granted certain specified rights. This legislation, authored by Representatve Diane Watson was introduced at about the same time as Buchanan’s bill. Apparently, a little common decency for people who have only been accused of a crime, not convicted, is out of vogue. Draconian measures are more popular in a nation that gets a thrill out of being afraid.

Supporters of the Constitution and the rights it guarantees seem to be dazed and disorganized. It was straightforward for them to oppose unconstitutional attacks on civil liberties when George W. Bush was President, but now that a President from their own party is supporting Bush’s worst attacks against the Constitution, even the most progressive members of Congress seem unable to mount a united campaign of opposition. Republicans, on the other hand, have been emboldened by Barack Obama’s unwillingness to resist unconstitutional abuses against American freedom.

As Americans eagerly sign up for full body scans in order to gain a feeling of protection against a terrorist threat so miniscule it almost doesn’t exist, compassion and reason are out. Getting tough against freedom lovers is chapter one in the new political playbook

1 comment to The ReHomelandization Of Congress

need not to worry. diane watson’s bill is unnecessary, we have already insured the rights of detainees simply having elected obama and his administration’s open door policies.
need to worry. vern’s bill is a necessary tool in squeezing out every tid-bit of false information from any patheticlly incompetent teenager caught setting their underpants on fire.
i’m surprised you don’t see the logic here.

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